Interlocking wall tile



.Dec. 6, 1949 OW 2,490,577

INTERLOCKING WALL TILE Filed May 28, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 III 1.

= L Wk INVENTOR RICHARD (3. BROWN 4.1 0/5/44 flM k, WM

Dec. 6, 1949' R. G. BROWN 2,490,577

INTERLOCKING WALL TILE Filed May 28, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR RICHARD GBROWN 1 M2744 A zzmzmr w, .44;

Patented Dec. 6, 1949 Pittsblitgh Plais'tfc Tile company,- a} partnership sco'nsisting ."o'f P-Ri'chard :G. JEBroiw-n rand Syd Wolfson ApplicationMayz's, ls iifserial"Noivtljiss :2 :Claims. 1

" This in'ven'tion relates to 5 wall tiles-of' such type th'at they may be applied to-a walland interlo'cked thereon without the use 'of fastening means such-as nails orscrews.

The files prferably are made of a plasticsuchas polystyrena ab though they may be made of other materials. The tiles are affixed to a wall by applying a gob of mastic cement to therear face of the tile and pressing the tile against a wall. The construction of the tiles is suchthatftheymaybe placed in vertical alinement or they'maybe staggered vertically and in .either case they-can be accurately and quickly placed in the desired relationship with each other because'of the fact'that the tiles are provided with 'coo'pefating notchesand projections.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment of myinvention,

Figure 1 is a front view of a plurality of tiles applied to a wall, the tiles being in vertical alinement;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure l, but showing the tiles staggered vertically;

Figure 3 is a vertical elevation of the rear face of a tile;

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken on the line IV-IV of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a vertical section taken on the line V-V of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 1, but showing the rear faces of the tiles;

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 2, but showing the rear faces of the tiles;

Figure 8 is a horizontal section taken on the line VIII-VIII of Figure 3;

Figure 9 is a horizontal section taken on the line IXIX of Figure 3;

Figure 10 is a vertical section taken on the line XX of Figure 6; and

Figure 11 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the interlock between the tiles.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, the tiles may be arranged in vertical alinement as shown in Figures 1 and 6 or vertically staggered as shown in Figures 2 and '7. Each tile, designated generally by the reference numeral 2 is rectangular in shape. In the illustrated embodiment, the tiles are square but they may be oblong. As previously stated, the tiles preferably are made of polystyrene. Each tile has a front face 3 and a rear face 4. A flange 5 extends rearwardly from the front face on all four edges of the tile body portion. Each of two adjoining fianges 5 is provided with a lip 6 which extends outwardly of the body portion of the tile beyond "onecf' the-nanges 5, each lip 6 being-sum }s"t'arltially U shaped in cross section as shown in Figure 4, 5, '8'and9. -As shown for instance in Figure 8, thelip fi has two legs-8a and 51) connected by a web 60. The leg lid is connec'te'dto and iterids rearwardly from the lower edge of i the flaiigei. 'Thes'pace between the leg 6a and fibfifth'e lip'p'rovides 'a groove 'l-which opensforzwareiy or the tile-and is adapted to receive a flange 5 of an adjacent tile, as shown in Figures land 5.

Each-of the-lips fi- -has a'notch 8 formed in it ifiildway-bf-leh'gth "Each of the two lipless fianges i'rhas a projection 9 localtedinside of 'it iand extending rearwardly 'from'the rear face of "the-tile. when -the-tiles are arranged in vertical alirieinent as 'showninFigures l and'G, a projecticn 9 'fits i'nto one of the-notches *8 soas to lock adjacent tiles together in fixed position. Each end of each lip 6 is cut away. When the tiles are arranged as shown in Figures 5 or '7, the cut away ends of the lips form V-shaped spaces It between the ends of the lips of two adjacent tiles. The projections 9 and notches 8 preferably are of greater depth than the depth of the flange 5.

The body of the tiles is relatively thin and in order to insure that the tile will be adequately supported and the body of the tile properly spaced from the wall H to which the tile is to be applied, the tile is provided with supports I2 extending rearwardly from the rear face of the tile. In the embodiment shown in Figure 3, these supports l2 are portions of an arc of a circle, the supports I2 being spaced from each other and spaced inwardly from the flanges 5. These supports l2 are of the same height as the distance between the rear face 4 of the tile and the lower edge of the lip 6. Thus the supports l2 act in conjunction with the lip 5 to space the tile body a proper distance from the wall to which the tile is applied. The tiles are caused to adhere to the wall H by applying a gob l3 of mastic cement to the rear face of the tile and then pressing the tile against the wall as shown in Figures 4 and 5.

The provision of the notches 8 in the lips 6, projections 9 and cut away ends of the lips 6 which provide the spaces it, are advantageous in that they enable the tiles to be laid either in vertical alinement or in vertically staggered relationship and yet insure accurate placing of adjacent tiles in the desired relationship. As illustrated in Figure 6, adjacent tiles are vertically alinecl. In this arrangement the notch 8 in the lip 6 of tile A receives the projection 9 on tile B. The space I!) provided by the right-hand end of lip 8 of tile A and the left-hand end of lip 6 of tile C receives the upper left-hand corner portions I 4 of the flanges 5 of tile D and the upper right-hand corner portion l5 of the flanges 5 of tile B. Thus the cooperation of the notch 8 with the projection 9 and the cooperation of the space ill with the corner portions [4 and I5 accurately locks the tiles in vertical alinement.

In the arrangement shown in Figure 7, the tile E is staggered vertically with respect to the tiles F and G. In this case a projection 9 on tile E is received in the space H] between the ends of the lips 6 on tiles F and G. One of the flanges 5 on tile E is received in the notch 8 of tile F. The two upper corners I4 and [5 of tiles E and H are received in notch 8 of tile G.

It will be seen from the above description that the tiles may be applied to a wall by a mastic cement without the use of mechanical fastening means such as nails or screws. either vertically alined or staggered vertically with respect to each other and in either case the exact position of the tiles is assured because of the provision of the lips, notches, projections and spaces referred to.

The invention is not limited to the preferred embodiment which has been given merely by way of illustration, but may be otherwise embodied or practiced within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A rectangular interlocking wall tile comprising a body portion having a front face and a rear face, a flange extending rearwardly from the front face on all four edges of the body portion, a lip on each of two adjoining flanges, each lip extending outwardly of the body portion beyond a flange and providing a, forwardly opening groove The tiles may be body at each of the side edges thereof, spaced lips on each flange of two adjoining side edges, each lip extending outwardly of said body portion beyond its flange and cooperating with its flange to define a forwardly opening groove adapted for the reception of a flange of an adjacent tile, a rearwardly extending projection located adjacent to and inside of each of two adjoining lipless flanges, each projection being of a size to fit within the space between said spaced lips on a flange and the end of each lip adjacent an adjoining side edge being cut away to provide a space between the ends of aligned lips of adjacent tiles.

RICHARD G. BROWN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,841,370 Grigsby Jan. 19, 1932 2,148,858 Freeman et a1 Feb. 28, 1939 2,156,277 Corbin, Jr. May 2, 1939 2,323,417 Pauli, Jr. July 6, 1943 

